Spanish students improve English skills through native tongue

ESCONDIDO -- Sitting at a desk in his fourth-period Spanish
class at Orange Glen High School, 15-year-old Cristian Nambo
carefully shaded a pencil sketch of a migrant worker tending
strawberry fields. A large, open field, where there still is much
more backbreaking work to be done, looms before the worker, with
the word "perseverancia," or perseverance, written boldly
overhead.

The Spanish class for Spanish speakers had just finished reading
the book "Senderos Fronterizos," the memoir of a Mexican immigrant
who comes to the United States with a very limited education, and
then rises from working in the fields to getting a college
education.

The assignment that Nambo was finishing up was to capture
important themes of the piece through art.

"Even though working got in his way, he still got his goal,"
Cristian said, adding that the book was inspiring.

In this classroom, however, all of the students are native
Spanish speakers working on developing their vocabularies and
learning about such literary devices as imagery and irony. The goal
is not only to motivate students, but to build the analytical tools
to enhance their speaking and writing abilities in English.

The students read books and then discuss in Spanish the literary
elements, breaking down terminology and paragraph structures that
they will revisit in their English classes.

"It helps me so I don't just read the words, but I understand
them," said Gabe Lopez, 14.

The class is part of a larger Escondido Union High School
District program -- Spanish for Spanish Speakers -- that was
introduced in Orange Glen, Escondido High School and San Pasqual
High School in 2004, after a group of educators and administrators
decided that the current English Learning Development curriculum
was not helping students advance and fully develop their language
skills.

By dividing native-Spanish speakers into four skill levels,
emphasizing in their native tongue vocabulary, grammar and writing
structures from the state's language standards and curriculum,
educators found that they could enhance students' Spanish and
English abilities.

"It accelerates their learning," said Donna Dutton, the
district's director of curriculum. "It accelerates their ability to
get on the highway to using and understanding the English
language."

Students tackle more advanced concepts in their native language
and are able to fully understand the concept and then bring that
grasp of an idea to English classes, Dutton said. They build
bridges and parallels between the languages, she added.

The eventual goal of the program is to have students fluent in
both languages to a point that they are fluidly translating ideas
and topics.

"The kids that make it through the program can say with pride,
'I can write, I can do this," said Jennifer Rasmussen, a district
educator on special assignment who has led the program. "It's
exciting."

Since the program was adopted on the three campuses, Rasmussen
said the schools and district have seen a noticeable increase in
the number of students taking the Advanced Placement Spanish
Literature and Language tests, as well as a growth in interest of
other subjects.

The final class for students in Spanish for Spanish Speakers is
Advance Placement, where they read and write extensively.

According to the College Board, 326 of the district's Latino
students took a total of 586 Advanced Placement tests in 2005, a 10
percent increase in the number of participants and tests from the
year prior. The College Board reported that half of the tests taken
warranted a passing grade or higher.

Rasmussen notes that while they can not directly correlate those
increases to the Spanish for Spanish Speakers program, it shows
that the program is part of a larger English Language Development
program at the district that is successfully turning out bilingual
students.

"Everything has become easier," Orange Glen sophomore and
Advanced Placement Spanish student Stephanie Gonzalez said, adding
that she has learned adjectives, paragraph organization, and more.
"(By being bilingual) you can have more opportunities and move up
in the world."

In the last couple months, the ideas and concepts behind the
program have been grabbing the attention of educators and school
boards nationwide.

In December, the program was awarded a prestigious Golden Bell
Award from the California School Boards Association, for its work
in the English, Language Arts and Reading Field. The Golden Bell
Award program promotes excellence in education by recognizing
outstanding programs in school districts and county offices of
education throughout California.

And in March, Rasmussen said, the district will be hosting
representatives from Carlsbad High School, Sweetwater Union High
School District in southern San Diego County, Los Angeles County,
Orange County, and as far off as Corpus Christi, Texas.

"It's so exciting that people are coming from all over," she
said, adding that the program has built confidence in students,
improved their education and given them tools that directly
translate into today's work force.

"If we are creating a 21st century citizen, that citizen has to
be bilingual or trilingual," she added enthusiastically.